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English
Oxford University Press
19 March 2025
The appointment of former politicians to constitutional courts is a global phenomenon. While ex-politician appointees may bring status, visibility, knowledge, and political awareness to the job, their previous roles may influence their assessment of legislations' constitutionality. Ex-Ministers as Constitutional Judges sheds light on this practice in four of the world's oldest and most established constitutional courts: Austria, France, Germany, and Italy.

Weaving together legal, political, sociological, and historical sources, including press articles, surveys, and interviews with constitutional judges and high-level personnel, the book provides the first comprehensive exploration of ex-politicians becoming constitutional court judges. It analyses the advantages and disadvantages such personalities bring to constitutional courts, as well as assessing what limitations supranational law may set for such participation. Whereas the participation of ex-ministers does not seem to have posed serious structural issues to constitutional courts so far, this volume posits that the risks have

been underestimated. In this context, Ex-Ministers as Constitutional Judges ultimately suggests normative steps for minimizing such risks and strengthening the independence and impartiality of constitutional courts in view of democratic and constitutional backsliding.
By:  
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 160mm,  Spine: 18mm
Weight:   406g
ISBN:   9780198930198
ISBN 10:   0198930194
Series:   Oxford Comparative Constitutionalism
Pages:   224
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Further / Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Mathias Möschel is Full Professor and Head of the Legal Studies Department of Central European University, Vienna (Austria). He holds an undergraduate law degree from Milan State University, an LLM from Berkeley Law, and a PhD from the European University Institute. He has also worked and taught in Italy, France, the United States, and Hungary. His research, teaching, and publications fall broadly in the field of comparative (constitutional) law, international human rights law, and non-discrimination law.

Reviews for Ex-Ministers as Constitutional Judges

France Claiming that ""law is politics"" is easy; exposing how it is so is much harder. In this groundbreaking book, Mathias Moschel documents the existence and role of a truly fascinating category of constitutional judges. Based on a sophisticated cross-national comparison and original material, and resulting in both strong claims and balanced assessments, his study offers an invaluable contribution to the literature. It will be essential reading for constitutional scholars, political scientists, and specialists in comparative law and politics. * Guillaume Tusseau, Professor of Public Law, Sciences-Po Law School * Austria Moschel 's book deals with a highly topical subject that provides new comparative insights and material. Indeed, this is one of the rare times that interviews with (former) judges of the world's oldest constitutional court in Austria are used in a scientific publication. By looking at the role of ministers as judges in four continental European constitutional courts, the book analyses the complex interplay between law and politics as it (also) relates to the organizational aspects of apex courts and negotiates the deeper role of constitutional courts regarding separation of powers and the possibilities to address the challenges of over-politicisation. The increasing challenge to constitutional courts by the public, populism and politics must be addressed. Moschel's book shows important ways forward in this regard. * Konrad Lachmayer, Professor of Public Law, European Law and Foundations of Law, Sigmund Freud University *


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